UVI Students Join ‘Live Chat’ with Ocean Researchers in Sea of Japan

Photo illustration by UVI Public Relations

UVI researcher Dr. Nasseer Idrisi conducted his first “live chat” from the decks of a research ship in the Sea of Japan with a room full of students and other interested persons on the University’s St. Thomas campus on Saturday, Sept. 19. Dr. Idrisi first gave the UVI audience a tour of the ship and its laboratories. He and other scientists then fielded a variety of questions from students gathered in room 101 of the Teacher Education Building.

The students wanted to know about the subject of the research mission, the techniques used to obtain samples from the seabed, and if they had pulled up any precious gems. The project is investigating an extinct super volcano in an area known as the Shatsky Rise. Scientists use techniques similar to those employed in drilling oil wells at sea. And, finally, they have found no gems just yet.

Dr. Idrisi, the expedition’s “educator at sea,” is focusing on serving as the ship’s communicator. As such, he is working directly with UVI Science 100 students. Subsequent live chats are scheduled for noon on Sunday, Sept. 27, Saturday, Oct. 10, and Sunday, Oct. 25. Virgin Islands educators who want to involve their students in real-time deep ocean geological research, as well as members of the public, are encouraged to attend the videoconference session with Dr. Nasseer Idrisi. All will take place in Room 101 of the Teacher Education Building on UVI’s St. Thomas campus.

More on the Shatsky Rise voyage, including background, photos of the ship and the scientists and sailing schedules, is available from the Ocean Leadership web site: www.oceanleadership.org.

A news release is also available from the UVI web site – http://www.uvi.edu/ – and from this direct link.

School Groups Invited to Organize Videoconference Sessions

School groups and others interested in organizing their own videoconference sessions with Dr. Idrisi will need to obtain special IOCOM software in order to communicate. An informational fact sheet and technical specifications can be obtained by visiting these links Shatsky Rise_Fact_Sheet - Shatsky Rise Technology

Hundreds Attend UVI Student Research Symposium

UVI student researchers Sean Francis, center, and Stella Jarvis explain their joint research project which looked into Finding Weird Numbers to Michael Johnson, one of two graduate students visiting UVI from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Johnson and fellow UNC student Daniel Dominquez address the UVI class of Dr. Alice Stanford while visiting UVI.

A standing room only crowd turned out for UVI’s 11th annual Fall Student Research Symposium on Sunday, Sept. 20. Some 60 UVI student researchers presented the results of the past summer’s research – conducted on-island and at locations throughout the U.S. – in poster form and took the opportunity to explain their efforts to visitors.

Sponsored by UVI’s Division of Science and Mathematics and the Emerging Caribbean Scientists (ECS) program, the symposium’s goal was to showcase the outstanding quality and diversity of undergraduate and graduate student research that UVI students have conducted over the summer and during the past year.

UVI student researchers Katy Sanon explains her research titled ISSR-Protocol Established for Local Plant Killer to UVI President Dr. David Hall.

Nine from UVI Attend National Black Nurses Association Institute and Conference

Nine University of the Virgin Islands students and alumni attended the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Institute and Conference in Toronto, Canada, from Aug. 2 through 6. Each has been involved with data collection for studies being conducted on health disparities by the Division of Nursing Education’s Caribbean Exploratory NCMHD Research Center (CERC). Their attendance was sponsored by the CERC. The conference gave participants the opportunity to network with nurse researchers, nurse theorists and nursing students. They were able to learn what nurses from across the nation and Canada are focusing on while meeting the health care challenges of the people they serve. The participants also attended workshops where CERC faculty and mentors presented papers on studies to which they contributed.

UVI's NBNA participants, shown, from left, are Melanie Ruiz, Natasha Caines, Dionne Williams, RN (alumna), Casandra Scotland-Brooks, RN (alumna), Assistant Professor Suzette Lettsome, MSN, RN, Shenelle Pogson, Nishel Lawrence, Lois Browne and Shenell Joshua.